Set Up

Once the bitch has finished giving birth, the whelping area should be cleaned and puppies checked over. Puppies should be kept warm (a small box or carrier lined with warm dry bedding and a heat pad) and any time away from the bitch for cleaning etc be kept minimal. All soiled bedding should be removed and the whelping box cleaned and dried, lined with clean absorbent bedding such as vet bed or thick blanket. Care should be taken to not use multiple layers of thinner bedding which may be disrupted as the bitch moves about, as this will risk puppies becoming lost, trapped or tangled between layers.

The whelping box should be large enough for the enough for the bitch to comfortably lay on her side and the puppies to fit with her for the next few weeks. The sides of the box should be high enough to keep the puppies in for 3 to 4 weeks, but short enough for easy access for the bitch to comfortably come and go. Ideally there should be a bar on the inside wall that the puppies can fit under, whilst keeping the bitch from pressing herself hard against the walls. This reduces the risk of the bitch laying on the puppies or squashing them against the wall accidentally. The bedding for the puppies should be changed 1 to 2 times a day ensuring to count the puppies as you take them in and out to ensure none are placed in the wash. Do not place any food or water bowls inside the whelping box.

Monitoring Growth

Puppies should be checked twice daily for the first week at least to ensure they are developing normally. After the first week, if there are no concerns, this can be reduced to once daily. This usually involves:

• weighing puppies
• checking for injuries
• monitoring activity / energy / mobility
• ability to attach to nipples and suckle
• toileting ability (you may need to stimulate them with a damp cotton ball to ensure ability to urinate and defecate and check faeces normal)

Puppy Feeding

Newborn puppies will exclusively feed from the bitch for the first 2 to 3 weeks and need to suckle every 2 to 3 hours. Puppies may preferentially seek out specific nipples, and this should be monitored to ensure nipples are used equally. If you notice this, you may need to rotate the order of nipples the puppies feed from to balance out their weight gain.

From around 3 weeks of age, puppies can start to experiment with solid foods using wet puppy food made into a slurry via blending and adding water if needed. At this stage, feeding is a very messy and not much will be eaten, but over the next few weeks they will eat more, reducing the demand on the bitch. Once the puppies show drive towards foods, they can be introduced to thicker textures and even water softened small puppy formula kibble.

Once introduced to solids beteen 3 to 4 weeks of age, the puppies should be fed every 3 to 4 hours using a shallow dish. It is also important that they have access to fresh water. Puppies should be fully weaned and independently eating by 6 weeks of age.

Parasite Protection For Puppies

Parasite prevention should start from 2 weeks of age using a puppy specific dewormer to protect against intestinal worms such as roundworm, hookworm, whipworm and tapeworm. Puppies require a dose every 2 weeks of age until they are 12 weeks old. Intestinal worming is then recommended to be given every month until 6 months of age then every 3 months for life. These products are dosed by weight are best as a prevention. If actual worms are noted in stools, or puppies are experiencing diarrhoea, further veterinary treatment may be required.

Treatment or external parasites such as flea and ticks, can be done using topical products such as frontline spray which is safe to use from 2 days of age. Once puppies reach 8 weeks of age, many other commercial products are suitable and may be chosen. It is important to keep in mind that there are some preventative products that are unsafe to use in lactating bitches, so careful review of products used for the bitch should occur, and alternatives chosen if needed.

In tick prone areas, it is important to use a tick prevention all year round. Similarly with heartworm preventatives. Puppies should have heartworm preventatives commenced at 12 weeks of age, by either using a long term injection administered by your veterinarian, monthly chewables or tablets or top-spot product.

First Vet Appointment

It is recommended that puppies stay with their dam until they are 8 weeks of age. They will therefore have their first offical vet appointment at 8 weeks of age or shortly prior. The earliest vet visit being 6 weeks of age pending your vets protocols. As DNA testing for parentage is required for registration, sometimes microchipping is done at the earliest opportunity to allow DNA sample collection so that the puppies can be registered with Dogs QLD as soon as possible. In general it is possible to microchip a puppy once they reach at least 1kg in weight, at the discretion of the veterinarian.

Generally, most breeders find coming to the vet for one single appointment for all work to be done more convenient. At this first appointment, each puppy will have a full health check, have their first vaccination, be administered parasite preventatives (if due or requested), be microchipped and DNA swabs taken for testing. Once this first visit is completed and puppies have reached 8 weeks or age or older, they are ready to commence their journey to their new homes.